Horsham Coast Guardsman selected as finalist in Coast Guard Cadence Contest

Photo By Lt. Donnie Brzuska | Petty Officer 1st Class Rick Bauz of Horsham, Penn., poses in front of Joshua James Hall at Coast Guard Training Center Cape May, N.J., after the internet release of his marching cadence "Old Man James" Sept. 23, 2013. Bauz, a company commander at Training Center Cape May, has been selected as one of the Coast Guard's top five Cadence authors of 2013 for his original cadence about Capt. Joshua James of the U.S. Lifesaving Service. Coast Guard photo by Chief Warrant Officer Donnie Brzuska.  

CAPE MAY, NEW JERSEY, UNITED STATES

09.23.2013

Story by Chief Warrant Officer Donnie Brzuska 

U.S. Coast Guard Training Center Cape May

CAPE MAY, N.J. – A Horsham, Penn., native has been selected as one of the Coast Guard’s top five cadence authors of 2013, and his cadence was released Monday at 11:30 a.m.

Petty Officer 1st Class Rick Bauz, a company commander at Cost Guard Training Center Cape May, was selected for his marching cadence entitled “Old Man James.” Each year, Coast Guard Training Center Cape May, the service’s only enlisted basic training facility, solicits original marching cadences from across the service.

“The Coast Guard Cadence Contest allows members from across the Coast Guard to educate our newest members,” said Capt. Todd Prestidge, the commanding officer of Coast Guard Training Center Cape May. “Everything we do here is aimed at educating and preparing future Coast Guardsmen for the rigors of service, and that includes when they call cadence.”

Bauz’s cadence chronicles the life and death of Capt. Joshua James, a member of the U.S. Life Saving Service and one of the nation’s most celebrated life savers. The cadence was inspired by Bauz’s own experiences during search and rescue cases when he and his crew couldn’t rescue everyone. When asked how many people he saved, Bauz shrugs his shoulders and doesn’t know, but he knows he’s worked 14 cases where he and his couldn’t save everyone. It’s apparent the thought of those deaths still haunt him.

“This cadence is not only about teaching our recruits our history,” says Bauz. “It’s about instilling a sense of urgency to prepare and train for the worst, and while we may not be able to save everyone in the Coast Guard, we can find comfort in the fact that we’ve done everything we can to ensure we’re ready for the call.”

The Coast Guard will release the top five cadences throughout the week of Sept. 23, and the public will be given the opportunity to vote on their favorite cadence by “liking” it on Facebook and YouTube. The Top Coast Guard Cadence of 2013 will be announced the week of Oct. 14.

Training Center Cape May prepares more than 80 percent of the Coast Guard’s entire workforce to conduct the service’s frontline missions around the world. The Coast Guard is among the most selective and recruits the most qualified applicants of the five armed services. This rigorous training program educates future Coast Guardsmen in everything from basic water survival to marksmanship, and many graduates will be conducting Coast Guard missions just days after basic training.

For more information about Bauz and his cadence, please click here - http://bootcamp.coastguard.dodlive.mil/?p=1297.

To Check out Training Center Cape May's Facebook page, please click here - www.Facebook.com/USCoastGuardBootCamp.

• Date Taken: 09.23.2013
• Date Posted: 09.23.2013 12:46
• Story ID: 114107
• Location: CAPE MAY, NEW JERSEY, US
• Hometown: HORSHAM, PENNSYLVANIA, US